The other day I was watching a program on National Geographic and they were talking about healing or what they called Strange Healings, which was non-Western approaches to healing. One of the healing practices they featured was the practices of a shaman from the Andes. This particular shaman had diagnosed his patient by using a guinea pig. A similar practice exist in Africa using a goat. In remote parts of Asia they use a sheep or chicken. Anyway, the shaman from the Andes whom they call Maestro (Master) after diagnosing the ailments correctly, offered the guinea to the earth and prepared another offering to remove the spirits that brought the illness from the patient. Then, he chased the spirits away with a series of ritual actions.It was an interesting segment but then they brought on Western trained anthropologists, psychologists and sociologists who talked about that the reason the shaman was successful, was because of a placebo effect.

“Really???” I asked. “How sad.”

How sad I said because it is really a shame that Westerners can’t see beyond their arrogance. Now, I am not totally against Western education and thinking, but you need to know its limitations, which is based totally upon the physical senses. It is the failure recognize that there is something beyond the physical that prevents Westerners from making any serious grounds spiritually. It is because the people in the Andes can see beyond the physical and identify with the spiritual that allows them to see the sacredness of all things like the coca leaves, which they chew daily. That Westerners have abused, misused and are addicted to.

Now, I am not promoting drugs use but I am trying to get you to see that it is our Western thinking that prevents us from seeing the wholeness of God. It is our Western training that makes us arrogantly believe that because we don’t understand a thing. Means that it is not real or effective. This also is what makes us search for God through someone else eyes rather it be through an Arab’s, Chinese or East Indian’s perspective. The problem with this of course, is that the spirituality of these peoples reflects their divinity through their own eyes and not of foreigners. This means that when you take this same Western or non-holistic perspective and try to learn about someone else spirituality that is foreign to you. It is not going to work either, because there is a safe guard preventing people from abusing and misusing it for mundane and profane purposes.

It is this same safe guard during the Cultural Movement of the 1960s and 70s, that prevented people like The Beatles, Jim Morrison and the Doors, and everyone else during that period from truly climbing higher spiritually, and. Instead led many of them to abusing substances, social disorder and the committing all sorts of heinous acts despite their original natural and peaceful intentions.

It is the same safe guard that made the Great I AM tell Moses to inform the Children of Israel not to gaze upon Him at Mt Sinai because they would perish. What is this safe guard? It is culture. Culture and spirituality are uniquely tied or joined at the hip and if you don’t have one. It is hard to get the other. In fact, culture is what spirituality different from religion.

What’s the difference you ask between spirituality and religion? Real quick, religion is based solely upon beliefs whereas spirituality is based upon experience. A person can change their beliefs like changing their clothes but you can’t change or deny your experience. This is why spirituality in most non-Western cultures is closely tied to initiations, where you either received the initiation or not.Religion is something you practice. Spirituality is what you are. Have you ever asked a person who they are and answer they are Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, etc.? This is a religious individual, because their beliefs are dictating who they are and will be. A true spiritual minded individual tells you his or her name based with conviction based upon their experience.

It is this lack of holistic thinking that makes people jump around and try other faiths. I know because I did it as well. Fortunately, my padrino (godfather) and I met and helped me to see life from a different perspective. Of course, it didn’t come quickly. I had to go through a bit of ordeal as you all know, but this ordeal was my trial by fire or leading to my burning bush initiation. It was because of my initiation I began to see the Kamitic tradition differently. Like many, I had read and read the Kamitic legends numerous times and just chalked them up as fanciful stories, which is evidence of my Western education (indoctrination), non-holistic thinking and lack of maturity. When I was undergoing my informal initiation that’s when the truth of the Story of Ra and Oset appeared to me.

The Story of Ra & Oset

According to legend, Oset (Aset/Auset/Isis) wanted to be a goddess, so she conjured up some old foot magic and created a serpent, so that when Ra journeyed across the two lands. The serpent would poison Ra with its bite and in order to save him. Ra would have to reveal his true name to her based upon the belief that whosoever knows his true name could control him. As planned, Ra journeyed across his kingdom and when he came upon the serpent that lie in his path, he was bitten and became very ill. In agony Ra called out to his children to save him but none knew of a cure except for Oset. When Oset came to Ra’s aid she called him to reveal his true name to her so that she could drive the poison out him. Ra after much hesitation tells Oset,

“I have made the heavens and the earth, I have ordered the mountains, I have created all that is above them, I have made the water, I have made to come into being the great and wide sea, I have made the ‘Bull of his mother,’ from whom spring the delights of love. I have made the heavens, I have stretched out the two horizons like a curtain, and I have placed the soul of the gods within them. I am he who, if he openeth his eyes, doth make the light, and, if he closeth them, darkness cometh into being. At his command the Nile riseth, and the gods know not his name. I have made the hours, I have created the days, I bring forward the festivals of the year, I create the Nile-flood. I make the fire of life, and I provide food in the houses. I am KhepeRA in the morning, I am RA at noon, and I am Tmu at evening.”

After hearing all that Ra had said, Oset told him, “The poison continues to run through your body because you have not reveal your true name, my Lord.” Finally having no other choice Ra conceded and he led Oset into another room so that no one else could hear them. When they were alone. Ra caused his name to pass from within him and into Oset, which she used to drive the poison out of Ra’s body. The story ends with the impression that the name was not revealed, but the story was a riddle because the name was revealed to Oset in secret. To understand the story, the word for secret and hidden is “Amun or Amen,” which also means to conceal (this is the reason the word was borrowed and used to follow the end of Jewish, Christian and Islamic prayers).

Basic Kongo Cosmogram

It was from this Story it was revealed to me that Khepera (sunrise), Ra (midday), Ra Atum or Tmu (sunset) and Amun Ra (midnight) are not God. They are the divine attributes of the Almighty God, Nebertcher. Together these four attributes correspond to the four moments of the sun (sunrise, midday, sunset and midnight), the four directions (east, north, west and south), the four stages of Life (birth, life, death and rebirth) and the four moments of the Kongo cosmogram (Kala, Tu-Kula, Luvemba and Musoni).

Kongo Cross (Dikenga)

This is how I discovered the maa aankh, a Kamitic – Kongo inspired cosmogram based upon my ancestors’ cultural perspective, which reveals my divinity and uniqueness. Instead of making me feel inferior or culturally subservient to others.

So you see, Egyptologists and other Western scholars got it wrong because they are not culturally in sync with the Kamitic thinking, which was holistic. It was because of my experience guided by the wisdom of my padrino, that allowed me to rediscover and resurrect my own divinity. Thereby connecting to God, which allowed me to see the sacredness of all things. In other words, I had to see God through my Ebony Eyes in order to get a holistic perspective to improve my life. This is why I am eternally grateful for meeting my padrino because without him I would never have had the pleasure of meeting the orisha Ochossi (Oxossi) and later the netchar Maat.

That’s right, it was Maat that showed me the entire picture or Maa. It was Maat that showed me the Maa (the Way), which I hope you can see means more than just balance, reciprocity, law, justice, order, karma, etc. I hope you can see the difference from knowing and believing in God. When you believe. You only see part of the picture – usually the one based upon your physical senses, hence the intellectual side everything (based upon your limited understanding). You see the differences between yourself and others, which is why it is hard for people to come together peacefully.Not only that, when you just believe you tend to argue with others on who is right or wrong, which is a typical Npu (Anubis/Sebek) and Eshu (Ellegua) trick, all due to perspective.

It is important to note that people that believe in God need rules, laws and commandments to follow or they believe that God will punish them and so on. And, rightfully so, because without these rules they would cause great harm to themselves and others because they lack the maturity, understanding and responsibility.

Spiritual people on the other hand don’t just believe in God but know God, which allows them to see life holistically. They live their life based upon what is ideally correctly. A truly spiritual minded individual can or tries to harmonize (be at peace) with anyone regardless if they agree with their beliefs or not, because they understand everyone has a journey. They can come together peacefully with others because they focus on the individual’s spirit. This does not mean they condone negative, self-destructive and perverted behavior, no more than Moses did. It just means that see the sacredness of all things and do not need any commandments, laws and rules to tell them what they should and should not do. Because they see the dangers beforehand. It is part of the holistic or Maa perspective.

I say all this to inform you that if you find yourself flip flopping from faith to faith, not knowing which way to turn or what is right from wrong. If you feel that you have lost your way or that you haven’t found your way. It could be because you are looking at life from one perspective and not seeing the whole picture. It might be time for you put down the books and ask Maat to show you the other side of life. So that you can develop your intuition and learn to see life holistically.

I cannot truly express how happy I am about Kamitic spirituality. Just recently when I was responding to a blog, I was reminded about THE WIZ starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, Mabel King, Richard Pryor and Lena Horne. One of the fascinating most parts about the movie that I found particularly interesting was how Lena Horne who played the Good Witch is surrounded by the night sky with stars. Floating in the night sky were babies. When I was younger, I thought that this was all just art but now that I am older and know a little bit. I see the night sky to be the heavens.

The heavens according to ancient African thinking has always been thought to be the realm of the ancestors, which is where children come from. This is why in some African cultures like the Yoruba name their male children Babatunde and female children Iyatunde, which means the “He/She has returned”.

This is not a new concept as you can see. Displayed above is the Kamitic (ancient Egyptian Nut) resting above the principle of Geb (the earth). The reason why I am saying all of this is so that the next time you hear someone say, Nut is the sky goddess, just ignore them because they don’t know any better. Just think of Lena Horne as Glinda the Good Witch singing Believe in Yourself.

Interesting thing, I was given this message not even thinking about how Mother’s Day was coming up. It is just one more metaphysical sign revealing the inner beauty of women. I am truly grateful for having learned about Kamitic spirituality because through it, it has helped me to appreciate the inner strength that all women have.

I would like to dedicate this post to all of you women wherever you are. Thanks goes out first and foremost to my mother, grandmother, aunts, cousins, wife and sister-in-laws. And a special thanks goes out to all of you Great Mothers: Tiye, Hatshepsut, Nzinga, Dona Beatriz, Mariana Grajales Coello, Betty Shabazz, Celia Cruz, Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King and all of you ancestresses that have given us pride, stirred up and gave birth to change throughout the ages. Thank you for leaving your spirits with us to inspire another generation.

An anonymous reader asked me to clarify on what I meant that your woman is a blessing in disguise.

As stated before in Part 1, the Kamitic/Kemetic people didn’t call the earth Mother Earth or Mother Nature like a lot of other cultures. The Earth or Nature was viewed as being masculine. While the Celestial Sky or Heavens were viewed as being feminine. Since the Kamitic/Kemetic people took it literal that we are made in the image of God. From a metaphysical perspective, man was the physical manifestation of the Earth and woman the physical manifestation of the Heavens.

To make it simple and plain, metaphysically and metaphorically speaking, to enter into a woman was viewed as entering physically into the heavens. Yeah, we’ve been deep like this for centuries and even though many of us didn’t know this from the Kamitic/Kemetic perspective. It just comes out of us in all sorts of artistic expressions. Remember, the Ohio Players’ “Heaven Must be Like This”?

As you can see, it is not all about the sex. The symbolism is absolutely beautiful and expresses how black people in general viewed their women, which is a stark contrast from how the Western world looked upon women. This is why in Kamit/Kemet and throughout traditional Sub Sahara Africa (before the spread of Islam, slavery and colonization), African women had similar rights as men, such as the right to marry, enter into the priesthood (the Western world still doesn’t accept in general women clergy), the rights to own property and so on. It is the reason why everything passed along the maternal line, which is still based upon the belief that our blessings come from the heavens. This changed after invaders began grabbing up the women, thus seizing the wealth.

A man that truly understands this would never hit his woman because metaphysically speaking he would understand that he is striking the mysterious, spiritual manifestation of the God, that brings blessings into his life that could turn into curses. In a practical sense, she could bear a child that would either improve the life of the family or fight on her behalf against (paternal) tyranny, like the child Hru (Hrw, Heru, Horus) had done.

At the same time, a woman truly understanding this would take pride in herself and view herself as being sacred. She wouldn’t boldly advertise her SECRET or MYSTERIES, like the misguided youth of today. She would only enter into union with a man that understands and respects her sacredness based upon the way he treats the women in his life, like his mother, grandmother, aunts, sisters and female cousins.

I think that if people looked at themselves as being creations of God with Divine Potential within their being, instead of as lowly creatures created by accident. They would have a higher self awareness and esteem for themselves, thus a greater chance for a harmonious and successful male and female relationship.

Do you see why Kamitic/Kemetic spirituality is so important in the education of our children?

Hope this post brings you much light and encouragement. The other day I had just finished talking to my father about my work and how it related to us culturally. Shortly afterward because my little niece was running around and she loves music, my father decided to put on The Wiz. Great movie, I don’t care what anyone says, the late 70s and early 80s was the BOMB. For those who don’t know the Wiz is the best retelling of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but it is done from an African American cultural perspective.

Anyway, as we sat watching this movie, which by the way my little niece wasn’t even interested and kept playing, we were all singing the songs. A nostalgic moment of course, because it had been a while since I had seen this film and funny how I still remembered some scenes and forgot others. One of my favorite parts of the movie is the when Dorothy (played by Diana Ross) and the Rift Raft (as the Wiz calls them) goes to Emerald City and they are jammin’ out to the different colors. Green is Mean, Red is Dead and Gold is Bold.

As I continued to watch the movie another favorite scene came up, which was when the gang goes to Evillene’s Sweat Shop, the Wicked Witch of the West (played by Mabel King), which was dark red. I didn’t see the connection yet. Until, after Dorothy kill’s Evillene and tries to get back home, where she finds that the Wiz cannot help her.

Now, what’s interesting about this is that in the Wonderful Wizard of Oz 1939 film, the Good Witch of the South was changed to the Good Witch of the North. When the creators of the Wiz retold the story and made it into a film, the changed the character back to the Good Witch of the South, played by the great Lena Horne. Then’s when it hit me…

“Ummm….Does this look familiar?” I heard. Noticed the maa aankh below the red region symbolizes TASETT (the evil, physical, hard labor, desert, impotent, etc.) and black region symbolizes KAMTA (the good, spiritual, easy, prosperous, fertile, night sky, heavens, etc.). I am not sure if the creators of the Wiz were aware of this cultural significance or not. What I do know is that the Wiz makes a lot more sense psychologically than the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. What do you think?